The Best Eye Creams For You, From The Experts At Reviews.com

Everyday, we look out for the best in the range of tried and tested eye creams out there to add to our strict daily routines, why? because it’s inevitable that the years pile up and for us women, our tender skin begins to act out if it’s not been getting the attention it needs early enough. You will agree that the face is the worst hit and the eyes are probably the first to show the effects of the stress we take on and anything else the skin has endured. Almost every skincare brand that’s worth it’s brand name has developed their own brand of eye cream for their consumers but if you’re like a lot of us, you’d have noticed that the results of many are quite underwelming!

Well, the experts at reviews.com tell us what to look for when shopping for the best eye creams in the market as recommended by them:

”The best eye cream comes down to using the right ingredients on the right issue. The most common: wrinkles, puffiness, and dark circles:

The Best Ingredients for Fighting Wrinkles

When it comes to fighting wrinkles around the eye area, there are three ingredients that our experts kept repeating: retinoids, peptides, and hyaluronic acid.

Retinoids are a well-documented wrinkle fighter. Derived from vitamin A, they help the skin slough off old cells and encourages production of collagen, but, eye cream with straight-up retinol is usually not a good idea for the sensitive, thin-skinned eye area. Because of that, most eye creams that target wrinkles usually have retinoids in a lower dosage, or a gentler derivative like retinyl palmitate, than anti-aging face creams.

Our experts also emphasized the effectiveness of peptides for a similar reason. “Peptides are small fragments of collagen and proteins that are meant to ‘trick’ the skin into thinking that its collagen is broken, and that it needs to make new collagen to replace it. Over time, it can help thicken skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles,” says Shainhouse.

Both retinoids and peptides can be drying, so a moisturizer is also key. The best: hyaluronic acid. It works by helping draw moisture into individual cells, plumbing them up and keeping them hydrated. We also included sodium hyaluronic acid, a salt derivative of hyaluronic acid, which offers that same benefit and is more easily absorbed by the skin.

We looked for eye creams that had either retinoids or peptides (these do similar things and not everyone can handle retinoids) and hyaluronic acid. We also cut alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs). While the combo of AHAs and retinoids is common in wrinkle creams, it’s too much for your eye area.

Best Ingredients for Dark Circles

The first thing to look for in the battle against dark circles is the same thing we use to jumpstart tired brains in the morning: caffeine. “You lose collagen and elastin under your eyes as you age,” says Klein. “Since that skin is thin to begin with, the blood vessels show up more and more. Caffeine shrinks the blood vessels to help make that blue color less noticeable.”

Helping to prevent future breakdown of elastin and collagen is also important. All the dermatologists we talked to said that antioxidants were the way to go. We used this dictionary from skincare expert, Paula Begoun, which ranks different antioxidants on their effectiveness in skincare products. We only considered antioxidants with “good” or “best” rankings.

Sunscreen was another must. Not only does it protect skin from sun damage, but also the right kind can help brighten up dark circles right away. “Morning creams with zinc oxide, natural minerals, or other optical diffusers will help conceal dark circles and provide sun protection, so they have dual purpose,” says Klein. We call that a win-win.

Other nice-to-haves we prioritized: niacinamide, which is known for lightening up dark spots on skin; mica, a natural mineral that reflects light for immediate under-eye brightening; and peptides, which help rebuild collagen to make those blood vessels less noticeable (and, unlike retinoids, are fine to use in the daytime).

We also cut any eye creams that included retinoids. While using retinoids at night to rebuild collagen can help your dark circles be less apparent over time, for an immediate effect, the eye creams without these ingredients are your best bet.

Best Ingredients for Puffy Eyes

Treating puffy eyes has some similarities to treating dark circles: Caffeine and antioxidants are must-have ingredients here too. Caffeine’s constricting effect helps tighten up inflamed skin, and certain antioxidants are effective at reducing swelling. According to our experts, namely: green tea, vitamin K, chamomile, copper, licorice, and aloe vera. Retinoids were cut. Those should be reserved for your nighttime regimen — constricting puffiness is best saved for the morning.

Eye creams are essential to preventing wrinkles, puffiness, and dark circles! With time ticking down, the faster you get to eye creams, the faster you’ll prevent all of the above. This guide here has top picks that can help you find your ideal eye cream: https://www.reviews.com/best-eye-cream/